Facebook's 'Donate Now' Button Makes Virtual Giving Easy

Facebook turns its attention to philanthropy as it introduces a “Donate Now” button for its non-profit pages. Donating to your charity of choice is, literally, a click away.

(Photo Credit: Facebook)

People want to feel like they’re making a difference in the world, but many don’t have the time, money, or resources to give as much or as often as they wish. Have no fear, Facebook is here with its newest feature, the Donate Now button, that makes charitable giving as convenient as pushing the “Like” button in your News Feed.

It seems the new feature is a win-win for all parties involved – non-profits, Facebook users, and the company itself. Non-profits greatly benefit from the social sharing aspect because, most likely, users will encourage their friends to jump on the “giving” bandwagon and also donate to the same cause – thus, sparking viral philanthropy.

According to Huffington Post, “Justgiving, a UK-based fundraising platform, launched a Facebook Open Graph application last year that made it possible for people to share charitable giving activity with their friends.” The organization found that each charitable contribution shared on Facebook “was worth more than $8 to a nonprofit organization.” Sharing really is caring.

As for Facebook, having the credit card information of its many, many users will benefit the company’s efforts to monetize on “its ecommerce and gaming initiatives,” according to TechCrunch. As of now, only 19 non-profits are included in the initial roll-out of the Donate Now initiative, according to TechCrunch, but more charities are expected to be added after the test phase. (Sign up your charity for a Donate Now button, here.)

After all, ‘tis the season for giving.

Happy giving, everyone.

Tell Us What You Think

What are your thoughts about donating to charity through Facebook's Donate Now feature? What non-profits would you like to see added next? Share your thoughts on Twitter or in the comments section below.